On what turned out to be the penultimate point of the curfew-curtailed Andy Murray–Stefanos Tsitsipas day one tussle, Murray, of the metal hip and steely mind, slipped at the back of the court and screeched in agony. Staying down for several seconds while holding on to his left groin, the concern was palpable on Centre Court.
Murray and physical suffering—we’ve seen this before.
What we’ve also seen lately, though, is Murray, of age 36 and world ranking 40, being a Slam showstopper.
And so as the former world No.1 got up and fired an unreturned serve to go two sets to one in the lead against the current world No.5, he left the Centre Court raising his fists. His buoyant momentum and level stalled in adhering to curfew restrictions at the All England Club on Thursday night, Murray returned to Centre Court on Friday afternoon having to build all of that from scratch again. He couldn’t, while a refocused and refreshed Tsitsipas reproduced his first set level to fashion a 7-6(3), 6-7(2), 4-6, 7-6(3), 6-4 second-round victory spread across two days and 280 minutes.
Exactly a decade after he became the Wimbledon champion for the first time, Murray, unseeded, exited this Wimbledon. But not before going toe to toe with the fifth-ranked Greek and being one of the two architects of delivering another five-set classic this year.
While this second-round encounter saw both players exiting the court before 11pm at Wimbledon, another second-round encounter this year saw both players keeping the show going past 4am at the Australian Open.
Both matches had one common denominator: a 36-year-old with two hip surgeries. Murray’s return to competitive tennis from that physical, emotional and ranking low — he was down in the 200s back then — has been spirited. Equally sparkling this year has been Murray’s ability to step up in majors while lying low and grinding on the second-run Challenger circuit for much of the rest of the season.
Arriving at the season-opening Slam in Melbourne with a first-round defeat in Adelaide, Murray, ranked 66th, produced two five-set memorable outings in defeating world No.14 Matteo Berrettini and local hope Thanasi Kokkinakis before losing to Roberto Bautista Agut in the third round.
Unable to replicate that level in the European ATP clay swing, Murray dropped down to the Challenger tour ahead of the French Open, which he eventually skipped.
He chose to remain in the second-rung circuit on grass, odd for a top-50 player and a homegrown Wimbledon winner. Not so for a player seeking rhythm and momentum on the surface. The back-to-back Challenger titles last month in Surbiton and Nottingham gave him just that. Thus, despite losing in the first round of ATP Queen’s, Murray focused on the little positives — “holding serve comfortably”, “moving well” — from the Challenger run and came into Wimbledon upbeat.
In breezing past fellow Ryan Peniston in straight sets in the opening round, Murray set up the mouth-watering date with Tsitsipas. The Greek, his serve flowing and forehand firing, was the better play for most parts of the first two sets, until Murray found his service precision to take the second set tiebreak.
After a lengthy toilet break –the two were engaged in a bitter war of words over Tsitsipas’s prolonged toilet break during their 2021 US Open clash – the fifth seed came out cold. Murray broke him immediately, served out the set after the injury scare and walked off the court with the lead and a standing ovation. Friday afternoon wasn’t quite the same as Thursday night for Murray, but for the man who four years ago thought was likely done with Grand Slam tennis, he still does manage to put on a show on that stage.
“Never easy against Andy,” Tsitsipas said. “I’m very impressed the way he holds up, having been so many years on the tour, having had two surgeries, I’m very impressed with his level today.”
Medvedev, Alcaraz march on
In another Thursday-going-Friday second round, world No.3 Daniil Medvedev clinically finished the job in a 6-3, 6-3, 7-6(5) win over Adrian Mannarino. Top seed Carlos Alcaraz swept past Alexandre Muller 6-4, 7-6(2), 6-3 and women’s second seed Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a set down to beat Varvara Gracheva 2-6, 7-5, 6-2 and enter the third round.
Dhamne qualifies for junior main draw
Manas Dhamne, 15 and the brightest prospect currently in Indian tennis, qualified for the main draw of the junior Wimbledon championships on Friday after beating Turkey’s Atakan Karahan 6-2, 6-7(5), 10-8 in the second qualifying round. Dhamne will play Australian Hayden Jones in the first round.
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